Heidi Turner

Heidi Turner has been a contributor since 2006. As a freelance writer, she has had her work published in various news outlets and magazines. In her spare time, Heidi entertains her four cats and travels as much as her budget allows. You can visit Heidi at www.heiditurner.ca

Boston, MA:IVC filters are typically considered life-saving devices that can prevent a patient from suffering a pulmonary embolism in cases where the patient cannot take an anticoagulant. Concerns have been raised, however, that patients who have an inferior vena cava filter implanted are at an increased risk of serious complications, including device perforation of major blood vessels. Now, a study suggests that not all patients who receive the filters actually need them, meaning they could needlessly be put at an increased risk of complications.

Sacramento, CA:California is looking to expand parental leave laws to require smaller businesses to provide parental leave to employees. If approved, the law would require employers with 20 to 49 employees to provide parental leave to employees. Current law only requires companies with 50 or more employees to provide parental leave.

Pittsburgh, PA: As additional Stockert heater-cooler lawsuits are filed, more warnings are being sent out about the devices, warning patients that they may have been exposed to contaminants thanks to the use of the Stockert 3T devices. Hospitals across the US are sending out letters concerning the potential risk of infection in patients who underwent open-heard surgery procedures that involved Stockert heater-coolers.

St. Louis, MI: Facing thousands of lawsuits alleging its talcum powder is linked to an increased risk of cancer, Johnson & Johnson filed a bid to delay the trials, arguing the talcum powder cancer lawsuits were filed out of jurisdiction. In early January, however, the Missouri Court of Appeals rejected Johnson & Johnson's motion, allowing the lawsuits to move forward in the jurisdiction in which they were filed.

Houston, TX: Patients taking blood thinning medications know they have to be careful to ensure their blood remains in therapeutic levels, to prevent major bleeding episodes. That’s why they use devices like the Alere INRatio2 system, to ensure that if they need it, their blood clots properly. But what happens if they can't be sure the systems that are meant to ensure their safety are actually working properly? That's the issue that was faced by some patients who use the Alere InRatio system, after the system was recalled due to concerns regarding inaccurate results.

New Brunswick, NJ: Days after a Texas jury awarded $1 billion to six patients in a hip replacement lawsuit, another lawsuit has been filed against Johnson & Johnson. The pharmaceutical company is not the only to face allegations of problems with its hip replacement devices, however. In addition to J&J subsidiary DePuy Orthopaedics, Stryker and others face lawsuits alleging their products had an early failure rate and caused a host of issues, including metallosis.

Marion, NC: Patients rely on doctors, medical centers, and healthcare companies to ensure the treatment they receive is safe and lives up to strict regulations. But sometimes healthcare companies attempt to get around the rules, putting the health and lives of their patients at risk. In those cases, healthcare whistleblowers—the people who know of alleged wrongdoing and alert authorities about it—are needed to step in and hold the wrongdoers accountable. Luckily for patients, these healthcare whistleblowers do exist, and luckily for the whistleblowers, they can earn money for exposing illegal activities.

Pittsburgh, PA Bonnie Davis, a patient who fought to ensure patients knew about the risks associated with power morcellation has died at age 57 from cancer. Davis had undergone power morcellation in 2012 and was diagnosed six days later with cancer. She worked to raise awareness of the serious risks reportedly linked to the use of power morcellators, to prevent other women from going through what she went through.

Los Angeles, CA: Snapchat is the latest tech company to face a lawsuit, but this time the plaintiff alleges wrongful termination, claiming he was fired for alerting superiors to potential misrepresentation on the part of the company. The California wrongful termination lawsuit was filed in January 2017, and claims the company purposely misled investors ahead of its initial public offering (IPO) to inflate Snapchat's valuation. The plaintiff, Anthony Pompliano, further alleges that Snapchat has since worked to destroy his career.

Boston, MA: Women are used to being given a long list of side effects linked to their birth control, so hearing about alleged Implanon side effects is likely nothing new. Some birth control comes with alleged risks such as blood clots, others may increase the chances of pseudotumor cerebri, still others can increase the risk of depression. For its part, Implanon reportedly carries an increased risk of device migration. As a result, Implanon is just the latest birth control to face lawsuits alleging women were put at risk of serious side effects.